Jerusalem, Aug. 31 (CWNews.com) - Four of Jerusalem's most prominent Christian leaders have issued a public statement condemning Christian Zionism.
In their strongly worded statement, the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders describe Christian Zionism as "a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism, and militarism." That outlook, they charge, is "detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel."
Latin-rite Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem joined with the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Swerios Malki Mourad; Episcopalian Bishop Riah Abu el-Assal; and Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan in signing the statement.
Christian Zionism, they observe, places an undue emphasis on a particular interpretation of the Book of Revelation, producing "an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ's love and justice today."
"We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation," the signatories announce. They argue that Christian Zionists have encouraged the Israeli government to pursue unjust policies that "undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world."
"We affirm that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of living together within peace, justice and security," the Christian leaders say. "We call upon all people to reject the narrow worldview of Christian Zionism and other ideologies that privilege one people at the expense of others."
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=70656
Full Version: Jerusalem Church Leaders Reject Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (I use this source for you Marta
)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (I use this source for you Marta
)QUOTE
Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy. This belief is commonly, though not exclusively, associated with a portion of evangelical Protestants, mainly in English-speaking countries outside Europe.
Christian Zionism, as a specifically theological belief, does not necessarily entail sympathy for the Jews as a nation or for Judaism as a religion. Since the biblical text is filled with references to Israel, it is common for Christian Zionists to emphasize the Jewish roots of Christianity, and even to promote Jewish practices and Hebrew terminology as part of their own practice; however, Christian Zionists commonly believe that to fulfill prophecy, a significant number of Jews will accept Jesus as their Messiah, and that in the last days, such Messianic Jews will practice a thoroughly Hebraic form of Christianity.
Many Christian Zionists believe that the people of Israel remain part of the chosen people of God, along with ingrafted gentile Christians. This has the added effect of turning Christian Zionists into supporters of Zionism, whilst providing one factor in an emerging sense of animosity towards Muslims in Western society.
Biblical roots
The Biblical foundations of Christian doctrines regarding the theological status of non-Christian Jews include prophetic and didactic texts. The prophetic texts are often interpreted as describing inevitable future events, and as they center on events involving Israel (taken to mean the descedants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob) or Judah (taken to mean the remnant of faithful adherents of Judaism), those who interpret them according to their immediate face value see these prophecies as requiring the presence of a Jewish state in Palestine, the central part of the lands promised to the Biblical patriarch Abraham in his covenant with God. This requirement is often interpreted as being fulfilled by the contemporary state of Israel. The didactic texts of the epistles (letters teaching on Christian doctrine and written by the Apostles) also include explanation of the events described in prophecy, and so complement and expand upon their significance.
Among the principal relevant prophetic texts are those found in the Jewish Bible or Old Testament in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezekiel, and those found in the New Testament in the Book of Revelation. These Old Testament books describe the Apocalypse, meaning literally the "unveiling", a vision of an eschatological event or end times. The Book of Revelation, or "Αποκάλυψις Ιοαννου" in the original Greek, puts forth an early Christian eschatological view which has been interpreted in many ways. The Roman Catholic study Bible cautions that Revelation is an allegory, as do the doctrines of most mainline Protestant denominations. Some Christians, including many evangelicals and fundamentalists, read Revelation as a prophetic script with a timetable to the future End Times. The contents of these books are discussed at the relevant articles, particularly in the article Book of Revelation.
Among the principal relevant Epistles are the New Testament books of Romans (especially chapter 11; q.v. "if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to Jews in material needs.", and "a hardening in part has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and thus will all Israel be saved"), and especially Hebrews, which elaborates the history of Judaism, relating the events of the Torah and Ketuvim as a "foreshadowing" of the Christian era, and describes the relationship of the Jewish people to God in a continuing context.
Christian schools of doctrine which consider other teachings to counterbalance these doctrines, or which interpret them in terms of distinct eschatological theories are less conducive to Christian Zionism. Among the many texts which address this subject in counterbalance are the words of Jesus as for example in Matthew, "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it", and the Book of Hebrews's discussion (echoed in 1 Peter) of the Christian church as fulfilling the role previously fulfilled by the faithful Jews and the Temple cult, and the doctrine of Paul, expressed in Galations, that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek".
Both pro-Zionist and anti-Zionist schools of Christian thought may be influenced and motivated by the description found in Revelation, in the message to the Church at Philadephia, "I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews although they are not, but are liars -- I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you". This description is often offensive to Zionist Jews who otherwise find some common ground with Christian Zionism in their support of an ethnic Jewish state in the Holy Land, but even so, it forms one of the foundational ideas underlying the doctrine and plays a definitive role in its eschatological script of prospective events.
Christian Zionism, as a specifically theological belief, does not necessarily entail sympathy for the Jews as a nation or for Judaism as a religion. Since the biblical text is filled with references to Israel, it is common for Christian Zionists to emphasize the Jewish roots of Christianity, and even to promote Jewish practices and Hebrew terminology as part of their own practice; however, Christian Zionists commonly believe that to fulfill prophecy, a significant number of Jews will accept Jesus as their Messiah, and that in the last days, such Messianic Jews will practice a thoroughly Hebraic form of Christianity.
Many Christian Zionists believe that the people of Israel remain part of the chosen people of God, along with ingrafted gentile Christians. This has the added effect of turning Christian Zionists into supporters of Zionism, whilst providing one factor in an emerging sense of animosity towards Muslims in Western society.
Biblical roots
The Biblical foundations of Christian doctrines regarding the theological status of non-Christian Jews include prophetic and didactic texts. The prophetic texts are often interpreted as describing inevitable future events, and as they center on events involving Israel (taken to mean the descedants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob) or Judah (taken to mean the remnant of faithful adherents of Judaism), those who interpret them according to their immediate face value see these prophecies as requiring the presence of a Jewish state in Palestine, the central part of the lands promised to the Biblical patriarch Abraham in his covenant with God. This requirement is often interpreted as being fulfilled by the contemporary state of Israel. The didactic texts of the epistles (letters teaching on Christian doctrine and written by the Apostles) also include explanation of the events described in prophecy, and so complement and expand upon their significance.
Among the principal relevant prophetic texts are those found in the Jewish Bible or Old Testament in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezekiel, and those found in the New Testament in the Book of Revelation. These Old Testament books describe the Apocalypse, meaning literally the "unveiling", a vision of an eschatological event or end times. The Book of Revelation, or "Αποκάλυψις Ιοαννου" in the original Greek, puts forth an early Christian eschatological view which has been interpreted in many ways. The Roman Catholic study Bible cautions that Revelation is an allegory, as do the doctrines of most mainline Protestant denominations. Some Christians, including many evangelicals and fundamentalists, read Revelation as a prophetic script with a timetable to the future End Times. The contents of these books are discussed at the relevant articles, particularly in the article Book of Revelation.
Among the principal relevant Epistles are the New Testament books of Romans (especially chapter 11; q.v. "if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to Jews in material needs.", and "a hardening in part has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and thus will all Israel be saved"), and especially Hebrews, which elaborates the history of Judaism, relating the events of the Torah and Ketuvim as a "foreshadowing" of the Christian era, and describes the relationship of the Jewish people to God in a continuing context.
Christian schools of doctrine which consider other teachings to counterbalance these doctrines, or which interpret them in terms of distinct eschatological theories are less conducive to Christian Zionism. Among the many texts which address this subject in counterbalance are the words of Jesus as for example in Matthew, "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it", and the Book of Hebrews's discussion (echoed in 1 Peter) of the Christian church as fulfilling the role previously fulfilled by the faithful Jews and the Temple cult, and the doctrine of Paul, expressed in Galations, that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek".
Both pro-Zionist and anti-Zionist schools of Christian thought may be influenced and motivated by the description found in Revelation, in the message to the Church at Philadephia, "I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews although they are not, but are liars -- I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you". This description is often offensive to Zionist Jews who otherwise find some common ground with Christian Zionism in their support of an ethnic Jewish state in the Holy Land, but even so, it forms one of the foundational ideas underlying the doctrine and plays a definitive role in its eschatological script of prospective events.
cont.... from above
I'm starting to get a greater understanding of all this.
QUOTE
History and recent theological development
Main articles: End times and Dispensationalism
Christian Zionism is a name applied to the political implications of a theological belief. Most people and groups who are called Christian Zionist subscribe to the theological belief self-consciously, but the political implications are a by-product.
The founder of modern Christian Zionism was William Hechler (1845-1931), an English clergyman of German descent who lived in Vienna at that time when Theodor Herzl published his Judenstaat. The contemporary theology which results in the most representative stream of Christian Zionism, was popularized by the 19th century evangelical Cyrus Scofield (1843-1921), who promoted the doctrine that Jesus could not return to reign on Earth until certain events occurred. In the interim, prior to these last days events, Scofield's system taught that the Christian church was primarily for the salvation of the Gentiles, and that according to God's plan the Jewish people are under a different dispensation of God's grace, which has been put out of gear so to speak, until the last days (the common name of this view is, dispensationalism), when the Christian Church will be removed from the earth by a miracle (called the Rapture).
Scofield writing in the 1900s said that, in those last days, the Bible predicts the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and particularly to Jerusalem. Scofield further predicted that, Islamic holy places would be destroyed, and the Temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt - signalling the very end of the Church Age when the Antichrist would arise, and all who seek to keep covenant with God will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah in defiance of the Antichrist.
Charles Taze Russell was another early Christian advocate of Zionism
Main articles: End times and Dispensationalism
Christian Zionism is a name applied to the political implications of a theological belief. Most people and groups who are called Christian Zionist subscribe to the theological belief self-consciously, but the political implications are a by-product.
The founder of modern Christian Zionism was William Hechler (1845-1931), an English clergyman of German descent who lived in Vienna at that time when Theodor Herzl published his Judenstaat. The contemporary theology which results in the most representative stream of Christian Zionism, was popularized by the 19th century evangelical Cyrus Scofield (1843-1921), who promoted the doctrine that Jesus could not return to reign on Earth until certain events occurred. In the interim, prior to these last days events, Scofield's system taught that the Christian church was primarily for the salvation of the Gentiles, and that according to God's plan the Jewish people are under a different dispensation of God's grace, which has been put out of gear so to speak, until the last days (the common name of this view is, dispensationalism), when the Christian Church will be removed from the earth by a miracle (called the Rapture).
Scofield writing in the 1900s said that, in those last days, the Bible predicts the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and particularly to Jerusalem. Scofield further predicted that, Islamic holy places would be destroyed, and the Temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt - signalling the very end of the Church Age when the Antichrist would arise, and all who seek to keep covenant with God will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah in defiance of the Antichrist.
Charles Taze Russell was another early Christian advocate of Zionism
I'm starting to get a greater understanding of all this.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.